JURIES – CROSS SECTION OF THE COMMUNITY

STRENGTHS OF THE JURY SYSTEM RANDOMLY SELECTED People from the community are randomly selected from the electoral rolls. Therefore if a person is a registered voter they can be called up for jury duty. The electoral commissioner will randomly select the require number of people from the electoral roll on the Juries Commissioners direction. The Juries Commissioner will then send them a questionnaire to discover whether they are qualified for jury service. It is an offence not to return this questionnaire and not attend jury service when called if you are eligible. This will then create a jury pool from which the 12 jury members in a criminal case will be empanelled and 7 in a civil case in Tasmania. This random selection is a strength of the jury system as it provides the best reflection of community values as a whole.

STRENGTHS OF THE JURY SYSTEM RANDOMLY SELECTED In Texas they can use a ‘Key Man” jury system where judges choose a commissioner responsible for recruiting a panel of grand jurors, they can still however choose to use random selection. The “key man” system is where the jurors are not selected at random but chosen by the commissioner selected by the judge and are often chosen due to their experience. This system has been criticised as it allows for perceived and actual bias. It is also not a cross section of the community and therefore would not reflect society’s values accurately. This weakness of the “key man” system was shown in Texas when Governor Perry had a randomly selected jury to avoid and perceived or actual bias in his trial. This shows that random selection of the jury is a significant strength as it removes the likelihood of bias and reflects the community’s values accurately.

STRENGTHS OF THE JURY SYSTEM In the jury system, the accused is judged by a panel of peers. The accused often feels as if they’ll be treated more fairly by their peers. Judges and workers in the legal fraternity are likely to be more affluent than the average person or face different challenges, and considering the majority of the population in Australia can be considered middle class, accused persons may feel that a jury of randomly selected people will better relate to them. For example in a civil case, a jury of randomly selected citizens is more likely to contain a person or multiple people who have faced a related?? simular?? Difficulty to the defendant or prosecution at some point than a judge, and so who may be more understanding of the situation. These people could influence?? The rest of the jury when deciding the amount of damages to be paid by a party. In a criminal case, having a jury could benefit the accused in the same way. If the accused is charged with committing an offence when they were financially disadvantaged, jurors who are financially disadvantaged may be more understanding.

STRENGTHS OF THE JURY SYSTEM HISTORICALLY TRIED BY PEERS Historically in the jury system, it has been the right of the accused to be judged by peers. This began with ‘The Magna Carta’ (written in 1215), which stated that ‘no free man shall be imprisoned except by lawful judgement by his peers’. The Magna Carta required even King John of England to be bound by the law and legal procedures. The King agreed to The Magna Carta in attempt to prove that he respected the law as it had been found that he was exploiting his power to act outside the law.

WEAKNESSES OF THE JURY SYSTEM According to Schedule 2 of the Juries Act 2003 (TAS) the following people are ineligible for jury duty: A person who is in the legal profession (Judges, magistrates, legal practitioners, members of parliament, police officers etc.) A person who have physical, intellectual or mental disability that renders them incapable of effectively performing the duties of a juror. A person who is unable to communicate, or understand the English language adequately. According to Schedule 1 of the Juries Act 2003 (TAS), those who have a criminal record are disqualified from jury duty on the basis that they may be unreliable or biased towards the accused.

WEAKNESSES OF THE JURY SYSTEM The weakness of the jury system is that it is not a true cross-section of the community because; a.Even though they are randomly selected, it is unlikely that the jury will fully represent a cross-section of the community. b.Those who are eligible to be jury members do not represent a true cross- section of society because some of the members are ineligible, disqualified or excused c.Each side has a right to challenge jurors to try and achieve a jury they think might favour their side, which may go against providing a cross-section of community members

WEAKNESSES OF THE JURY SYSTEM An article titled Probe on sex bias in jury selection published in November 2013, by The Age, states that ‘Women are twice as likely to be excluded from criminal juries as men’ as a result of the peremptory challenge process. Supreme court Judge of Victoria Philip Cummins stated that “If it (the jury) is not representative of the community because of (peremptory challnges, that affects the validity of the system.’ If juries are to reflect a cross section of society, they should also reflect the gender balance.